Red Christmas, White Snow
by Oracle-Eyes
Summary: A Con Christmas


Red Christmas, White Snow.

Engines growled, leaving heaving clouds of fog rolling across the deck. Oracle felt the deck shiver beneath her feet, the fog cold and damp against her metallic 'skin.' She peered out into the distance, through the haze of snowflakes, which clouded sensors at over a mile. "Twenty miles northwest of here," Genesis gestured, his form showing off a nearly invisible reluctance, which only her long familiarity with him exposed, as he spoke, "Is a mid-sized human settlement, within which, our scout, Chaff, has discovered a potential fragment of the all-spark, near the center of the population mass. It seems they have discovered our intent, because the humans have begun swarming around this area, within the past three weeks, apparently fortifying sub-cells of the structure. We're not certain of the exact location of this fragment, but we believe it may be held within some sort of temple- or altar-like structure within the fortress. When we fly here, we'll be flying low, but fast, so we can reach the target with minimal forewarning. Trines One, Two, and Four, fly overwatch. Three, and Seeker Soundwave will advance into the target itself, to secure the spark fragment. Seeker Oracle," he said, turning to face her, "You will take position atop a nearby hill, and provide support fire against any who might approach. Is that clear?" He glared straight at her, and she nodded reluctantly. As they prepared to launch, he walked by her, and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know. Just keep quiet." He walked past, his step leaden, with reluctance.

As they flew toward the city, they crested a range of mountains, and the fog cleared, low. Distantly, a spread of lights twinkled, like diamonds scattered across black felt, reflecting the haze of moonlight shining through the crowds. Up ahead, Chaff reported in, his voice soft in their comms, "It would appear there's a large group of human transports moving toward the fortress. They're preparing for something. They may know we're here." "Are you detecting any search radar?" "No. The air is clear- Wait, distant pickup of an active radar system. Fifty miles north, rough estimate." "How rough?" "Give or take five to ten." "Understood." Comms fell silent, as, almost with a breath of anticipation, they reached their staging point, and all turned, as one, toward the city. "Trine One engaging transports," Starscream reported, shrilly. "Trine Two engaging transports from southern vector." "Trine four, north." "Trine three moving for direct attack vector on fortress. Soundwave leading." "Oracle," Megatron spoke, quietly, "Assume position at marked beacon." A small pip appeared on her HUD, showing the peak of a mid-sized mountain, a few miles out, with a good view over the city, which appeared to be sited in the bottom of a small valley. "Visibility?" He inquired, when she landed there. "Clear view of target." "Assume overwatch." "Acknowledged," she replied before switching off her transmit, to murmur under her breath, "I can't believe this." She extended her sniper rifle, the linked optics displaying over her reticule, showing her the precise aiming point of her rifle, as a small window around the reticule itself. She practice-sighted on a few targets, determining range, and establishing a range-box around the target, avoiding visual sighting of the target, as much as possible, until she finally had to.

Everything was the way she remembered it. The names were different, the boxes smaller, but the colors, the lights, the expressions were all the same. Just as she began to speak, she saw the slender, jagged form of Soundwave crash through the glass dome on the top of the massive multilevel mall, sending shards of glass falling into the crowds beneath. She abruptly closed the magnified display of her rifle's scope, her body tensing, completely rigid. The sound of multiple explosions echoed across the city briefly drowning out the city noise with a series of hollow pops. She watched as tiny craters formed up the long roads approaching the city, fires erupting from cars, like broken toys scattered across a long, black ribbon. A stray bomb blasted into a building, raining glass and bits of metal across the street beneath. Engine flares, barely visible through the snow, criss-crossed the sky over the city, raining more destruction down onto it. Routine chatter swept back and forth between the Seekers, as trines coordinated strikes, destroying any sign of 'resistance' in the area. Finally, as Trine Two's leader sounded another strafing run, Oracle broke in, "They're not fighting back. They're just [i]civilians[/i] down there. Let's get the fragment, and lea-" She was cut off by a sudden surge of jets appearing, to the north, two diamond-shaped flights of four fighters each. Human military jets. She swept her rifle around, instinctually, but froze when she saw the tiny people, ant-sized, sitting inside of their toy-sized fighter aircraft. The looks of desperation, and sorrow, rapid, frantic gestures, the uneven pattern of their movement, all of which seemed as close to her eyes, as if she sat in the cockpit with them each. Her rifle tracked the lead fighter of the first quad, watching as it split into pairs. Her enhanced sensors picked up as an indicator light switched from green, to red.

[i]Her fingers tensed around the textured grips of her machinegun, eyes sweeping the snowy frigid air outside of the helicopter. She felt every bump and shudder of the aircraft, as it swept in, low. 'Potential terrorist action,' had been the phrase used, during their rushed briefing; Civilians who had taken up arms, and actually attacked a small, local hospital, fortifying the solidly-built structure, 'to make a point', as they had told the media. It was her first actual combat mission, and her stomach sunk with the thought of all of the helpless people trapped inside of the hospital with the terrorists. That feeling of terror, the thoughts that the people in there could've been their own families; the guilt at being glad it wasn't. But the helicopter drew ever closer, and she rechecked the ammunition feed for the hundredth time, as, in the distance, they saw the faint red and green lights, strung up over the small, gray hospital, giving it a merry, holiday aspect…[/i]

She realized her hands were actually shaking, and the reticule on her screen shivered in sympathy. Slow, steady breathing pulled air through her vents, her engines giving brief, bright pulses, as she raced to slow her circuits, and get her body back under control. '-acle. Oracle. Do you copy?"

She glanced at the magnified display, again, and saw that each of the fighters was already short a missile, apparently having launched when she was distracted. Without hesitation, her gun spoke, a brilliant ruby lance leaping out, to spear the lead fighter, tansfixed, briefly, on a bright red needle. The engine erupted, a moment later, and the aircraft vanished completely. She tracked to the second target, whose desperate evasion meant that her laser, instead, clipped off the entire right wing, sending the aircraft plummeting. She saw a handful more of the fighters vanish under a return hail of missiles, launched from the far more maneuverable Decepticon aircraft. It was an airborn slaughter. More aircraft poured in, from the distant military base, attempting to dogfight with the Seekers, and being torn apart effortlessly. At one point, a fighter from Trine four took a pair of missiles, which sent him crashing to the ground, and he, first of all of them, changed into his full robot form. He stood, launching a ripple of micromunition rockets into the crowded boulevard.

As if highlighted, in a moment of clarity, the snow swirled, and revealed the destroyed mall in its' full glory, fires, red, blinding in the distance, with Soundwave's predatory form advancing through the wreckage, tendrils lashing out at any movement. She felt herself slowly moving the reticule onto him, stilling her body, in preparation for the shot. She heard a soft voice, beside her, "No." She turned, startled, and saw Genesis standing there, unarmed. "We have the fragment. Prepare to move out." She resisted his command, just for a moment, and turned her head back, but Soundwave had already vanished from sight, the ruined shopping mall sheltering him from her sight. She stood, shaking, as a loud voice cut through her comms, "Autobots! Northeast, twelve miles. Seekers, engage; Soundwave, fall back with the shard." Megatron handed out specific engagement orders, as he, himself, took to the sky in opposition of a pair of autobot fighter-craft that roared in at afterburner releasing huge missiles in defiance of the Decepticon advance. Soundwave's form, blurred with speed, lifted up into the black sky, vanishing against the darkness like a shadow. Oracle, consumed with rage, shifted up, and flew straight into the battle engaging one of the Autobot fighters with her twin energy blades, clawing into his wings, as he flew past her.

The rest of the battle blurred together, neither side inflicting very serious losses on the other, but leaving many grievous wounds, as the Decepticons made a steady, guarded retreat. Once outside of the city, the Autobots stayed within, apparently hoping to use the city as cover, or perhaps only in its' defense.

As they neared the Nemesis, she pulled up, and aside, flying diagonally past the ship, out into open air.

Aboard, Megatron drew his weapon, preparing to shoot at her, but Genesis stepped in. "She'll be back. That, above all else, should have proved her loyalty to you."

"Does she have some particular emotion for these people, Genesis?"

"No, Megatron. But she has done her job."

"Yes. She has, hasn't she?" He asked, rhetorically, as he placed his weapon away. "She'd better come back, Genesis. If she does not, you will happily dispatch her with your own hands, correct, Genesis?"

He nodded, slowly, woodenly. "Yes, sir."

Behind them, Soundwave leaned against the outer wall of the bridge, arms crossed jaggedly over his torso, watching her distant form vanish into the blizzard. He replayed the conversation in his memory banks.

[i]"Does she have some particular emotion for these people, Genesis?"

"No, Megatron." He replayed it, again. "No, Megatron."

Lying, Genesis?[/i] he thought, to himself, and slowly shook his head, his expression blank and inscrutable. In a heartbeat, he was over the side, and flying to follow the distant shape of Oracle.

[i]I never forget a lie.[/i]


End file.
